After the War
by Lady Kiekyo
Summary: "Hey, Neville." "Yeah, Harry?" "Does Ginny have a boyfriend?"
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me and fortunately for Harry, I do not own the universe of Harry Potter. Only read and re-read copies of the books.**

**I was lying in bed trying to get to sleep when this scene popped into my head and another one followed. I envisioned this in two seconds and wrote it in five minutes. I am not responsible for anything my sleep-deprived brain cooks up.**

Harry was lying in bed in his dormitory when the thought struck him. Sure, Voldemort was dead and the battle was over and the Aurors would take care of the remaining Death Eaters so there was no longer anything between him and Ginny. Unless…

"Hey, Neville, does Ginny have a boyfriend?"

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Well, unless you counted all the snoring going on which reminded Harry that it was two A.M and everyone was asleep. So, instead of going back to sleep like a sane person, he got out of bed, walked over to the four poster next to his and poked Neville with his wand. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that his wand had become somewhat over excitable on being reunited with its owner and hence had a tendency to spark at odd moments. That was one of those moments.

Neville woke up with an "Oww!" and a burn mark on his arm. Harry backed off. He'd gained a new respect for Neville after the boy in question had decapitated Nagini.

Once Neville figured out who it was, he put his wand down. "Tomorrow, I'd rather you set an alarm clock."

"Sorry Neville. I'd forgotten that my wand keeps sparking."

Neville grumbled something unintelligible while nursing his arm. "What did you want anyway?," he asked finally.

"I just wanted to know if Ginny has a boyfriend."

Neville, who'd been attempting to heal himself with his wand, choked and spluttered. His wand went flying out of his hand and poked Ron who woke up with a yell.

"Neville…what the hell?," he managed finally.

"It's nothing, Ron," Neville said in a tone of deep sarcasm nobody would have suspected him of. "Harry just decided to disrupt everyone's sleep to resolve the all-important question of whether or not your sister is dating anyone."

After a pause Ron said, "Well, is she?"

"RON! Not you too."

"What now?"

"Well, forgive me for being so unreasonable as to suppose that you would not condone your friend's act of unnecessary disruption and instead of supporting him would aid me in informing him about the evils of disturbing people's sleep!"

Silence. Complete and utter silence. No snoring this time either.

"Wow! Neville. I think you could give Hermione a run for her money."

Neville turned red. "Stuff it, Harry," he grumbled while lying back down in bed.

"Hey, wait! You still haven't answered my question."

"What quest- Oh! That one. No, she's not dating anyone."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. "That's good," he said, mirroring Neville's actions. Ron prepared to go back to sleep too.

"You know, guys," Neville said, breaking the silence that followed. "If Harry gets married to Ginny, you two will be brothers-in-law. And your kids will be cousins! How weird is that?"

Another awkward pause.

"Neville."

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Go back to sleep."

Ron ran out of the dorm to go and puke in the bathroom.

**Cookies to anyone who can tell me the quote from the books. You'll have to squint to see it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**First off, I'd like to give a big thank you to all my alert-ers and favorite-ers. It's nice to know that you guys like it. A couple of reviews would've been nicer though. *hint-hint***

**If you were wondering about the quote it was the line, "Tomorrow, I'd rather you set an alarm clock." Ron tells that to Harry in the sixth book after Harry wakes him up with **_**Levicorpus**_**.**

Harry walked down with Ron as usual for breakfast the next morning. It still felt weird that things could go on the way they were. Apart from the memorial service, to be held in three days, it was like the war had never happened. Of course, there were subtle reminders everywhere. Like the damaged floors and burnt tapestries. The students and teachers too were more subdued than usual. The memories of the dead seemed to press down on them. Of course in some cases those dead _were_ actually wandering around in the form of ghosts.

When Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table, it seemed emptier than usual. Another reminder, if needed, that all was not as it should be. He missed Colin Creevey especially. His brother Denis was quieter than Harry remembered him. At least, there were many chairs that _were_ filled. Ginny's for example. She looked up and smiled at them when they approached. Harry felt his heart soar.

Hermione came down and sat on Ron's other side. They hugged. Harry shifted, slightly embarrassed. It had been in the making for a long time but it still felt weird to see his two best friends dating. Parvati, sitting next to him noticed.

"At least they're not doing the plunger-and-sink routine," she commented dryly. "Remember Lav-Lav and Won-Won?"

Harry cringed. "I think I'd rather face a million Death Eaters than see that happen again."

They laughed together. Harry was about to ask Parvati something else when he noticed Ginny get up from her seat. Parvati nudged him with her elbow. "She's missed you, you know," she said in a more serious tone. "Go talk to her."

Harry nodded and followed Ginny. He found her near the doors with a group of her friends. Trying to shake off a feeling of nervousness, he approached her.

"Hey, Ginny!"

"Yes, Harry?"

He felt his face warm up. "Can I, umm… talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

Her friends burst into giggles. It was like Cho Chang all over again. Ginny, thank the Gods, wasn't giggling. He didn't know if it was a good sign that she was taking him seriously or a bad sign that meant she wasn't happy about it.

They walked out into the grounds together. "So what did you want to talk to me about, Harry?"

The question took him by surprise. He'd been so caught up in gazing at her perfect features, that he'd completely forgotten the real reason for their walk. He said something very intelligent like, "Huh, what?", caught his foot on a rock and fell in a graceless heap.

Ginny bit her lip to keep from laughing and moved forward to help him up. "When did you turn into Ron?" she asked playfully as he dusted off his robes. He answered before he realized what he was saying.

"When I saw you." _Way to go Potter._

There was an awkward pause. Ginny bit her lip again but he doubted it was to stop herself from laughing. He still wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off. "Ginny, listen. I didn't want to break up with you in the sixth year. _My_ sixth year I mean, your fifth year of course. Those weeks were like the best times of my life. Excluding maybe the time when I found out I was a wizard and when Ron and I took down the troll and when I met Sirius and thought I was going to live with him, and when people realized I was speaking the truth about Voldemort and…"

Harry trailed off as Ginny raised her eyebrows as though to say, 'Oh really?'

Recollecting himself, he took a deep breath and blubbered on, "Anyway, those weeks with you were amazing and I really didn't want it to end but I was so scared Voldemort would hurt you and I was already risking Ron's and Hermione's lives and I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt- and anyway you know all that stuff. Basically, I wanted to tell you that I'm still in love with you and I was hoping you could forgive me and we could uh…get back together," he finished somewhat weakly.

Ginny blinked at him from beneath eyebrows that had been rising higher and higher with each word. When he was done, she started laughing. This time Harry was absolutely sure it was _not_ a good thing. He sighed and turned to leave. "Right, I get the message. Thanks for hearing me out Ginny."

"No! Harry wait. I wasn't rejecting you."

"Well, it sure looked like it," he replied, crossing his arms and glaring at her.

"Harry, you dork. I was laughing because of your idiotic speech and because you actually thought I needed to forgive you."

Ginny shook her head incredulously and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Boys!' Harry dropped his arms and stopped glaring.

"So, it's ok?" Harry asked tentatively. Ginny walked towards him until she was so close he could count the number of freckles on her face. She stood up on tip toe so he was staring into her chocolate brown eyes. He still couldn't figure out what she was thinking. She leaned forward. "Yeah, it's ok."

Then she kissed him and suddenly _everything_ was ok.


End file.
